Not to invoke Sheldon when he's not here to be beaten up, please.
Capt. Bike never did seem to take into account that noobs have no idea what 35 Nm feels like or it takes to apply it. He seemed more concerned with "bike repair for everyman" meaning as few special tools as possible.
To refute the idea that a torque wrench is only really needed "on high end carbon fibre parts", I invite you to count the number of posters here with square-taper cranks ruined because the bolt was under-torqued.
Oh trust me, the "torque wrench" is not needed applied to experienced mechanics only. If you are starting out and have no idea what proper torque feels like, then you learn it by using one and by experience.